Hard Rock Cafe in Miami Lets Lease Lapse After 30 Years

The curtain is coming down on Hard Rock Cafe’s Bayside Marketplace location after more than three decades on the downtown waterfront.

The rock ’n’ roll themed restaurant will close its doors August 19 after its lease with the city came to an end and will not be renewed, the Hard Rock confirmed in an email to The Real Deal. A spokesperson for the Hard Rock did not immediately respond to why the lease was not renewed or disclose the square footage and seating capacity.

A spokesperson for the City of Miami-owned Bayside Marketplace said the space will be redeveloped for another concept. The next tenant was not disclosed.

New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation holds the ground lease for Bayside Marketplace. A representative for Ashkenazy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In 2020, Ashkenazy filed an eviction lawsuit against the Hard Rock Cafe alleging over $300,000 in unpaid rent amid the pandemic. The case was dismissed with prejudice in 2022, court records show.

At the time, the lease required the restaurant to pay $500,000 in base rent annually plus a percentage of its sales, according to court records.

More than 100 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the closure, according to a WARN notice filed by the Hard Rock Cafe. The stand alone waterfront building includes a main dining room, mezzanine, patio areas and event spaces.

Founded in 1971, Hard Rock Cafe opened its Miami location in 1993. The restaurant is part of Hard Rock International, which has been owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida since its 2007 acquisition of the company and operates cafes, hotels, casinos and live entertainment venues worldwide, plus naming rights for the Miami Dolphins’ home stadium.

Bayside Marketplace was one of the hardest hit retail centers in South Florida during the pandemic. The Hooters there closed in 2021 and was taken over by sports bar Black Market Miami, the Miami Herald previously reported. Other retailers and restaurants that have closed include Sun & Sea Brazilian Bikinis, Bavaria Haus and Express, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2024.

The waterfront retail and restaurant hub is heavily reliant on tourists. Margaritaville opened there in 2024, and popular fast-casual Mexican chain Coyo Taco opened this month. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Chili’s, Foot Locker and Victoria’s Secret are longtime tenants.

Downtown Miami’s retail market is showing signs of softening, according to Colliers. Retailers in the downtown submarket shed 44,430 square feet of space, and vacancy reached 6.3 percent. Developers remain bullish on the downtown core, with nearly 64,000 square feet of retail space under construction and asking rents averaging $52.50 per square foot.

The Miami Worldcenter has been a major recent driver of much of that retail development and leasing.

Total inventory square footage for the downtown area is more than 3.4 million square feet.